Sounds Around Town: Ellis Paul X 3 at Passim June 28

Wednesday

Jun 25, 2014 at 3:00 PMJun 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM

By Ed SymkusWicked Local Arts correspondent

Ellis Paul likes to do things in threes. He’s a singer, a songwriter, and a guitarist, and he’s playing three shows in one day at Club Passim. Three in one day! On June 28, he’ll do a family show at 3:30, follow that with his regular show at 7, then do another one at 10. Paul has always kept himself busy with music. In talks with him in the past, the Maine native revealed that he began as a trumpet player but switched over to guitar while recovering from a knee injury when he was a student at Boston College.“I was completely self taught, and I started playing the open mike circuit in Boston,” he said, “from the Nameless Coffeehouse to the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus.”And he’s constantly writing new material, which he usually premieres onstage rather than in a recording studio.“I prefer to try songs out before [the studio],” he said. “Just so I can get a sense of what the impact is and whether it’s worth continuing to push the song. I trust the audience.”Paul plays guitar and piano at all of his shows, but the set lists are never the same at family shows and regular gigs.“The songs are entirely different,” he said. “I write songs for kids and families separately from the adult stuff. There’s no crossover at all. It’s fine to bring kids to the concert, but I’ll be playing my adult stuff [at the second two shows].”Ellis Paul’s June 28 trio of shows are at Club Passim in Cambridge. For info, call 617-492-7679.Same series, different settingJazz at Sunset, the American Big Band Preservation Society’s outdoor concert series, has had a home at the EcoTarium in Worcester for years. This summer it’s moving over to SAC Park in Shrewsbury. Concerts on tap include: The Four Freshmen (June 27), Dan Gabel and the Abletones (July 4), A Tribute to Cab Calloway, with Cab’s grandson Christopher Calloway Brooks (July 11), The BT-ALC Big Band (July 18), and The New England Jazz All-Stars (July 25). For tickets and information, visit JazzAtSunset.net.Upcoming clubs and concertsJune 27: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at the Wilbur Theater in Boston; The Workingman’s Band at Main Streets Market & Café in Concord; Joe Henry at the Brighton Music Hall; Lookie Lookie at the Charles Hotel’s Regattabar in Cambridge; New Edition at Agannis Arena in Boston; Sugar Ray and the Bluetones at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham; Air Traffic Controller at the Sinclair in Cambridge; Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion at Club Passim in Cambridge; Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys at T.T. the Bear’s in Cambridge. June 28: Through the Doors at the Hard Rock Café in Boston; The Boston Modern Orchestra Project at Jordan Hall in Boston; Jeanne Jolly at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham. June 29: Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. June 30: “Metal Goes Acoustic,” with Keith Pierce, Adam Richie and Rish, Randy Creasi, Leilani, Stephen Loverm, Adam PC, Ajda and Tony, Nancy, Jackie, Foley, Leesa, Rod, Lienna, Jane Park and Joe Kowan at Club Passim in Cambridge. July 1: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, with Rick Springfield at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston; Phish at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. July 2: Counting Crows, with Toad the Wet Sprocket at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston July 3: The American Symphony of Soul, with Sam Cantor at the Middle East Down in Cambridge.Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.